The DNA is backwards on The Selfish Gene’s cover – again
Feedback notes with weary inevitability that a 50th anniversary edition of Richard Dawkins's classic work features a double-helix twisting the wrong way – not for the first time
The latest issue of Feedback brings attention to a peculiar cover design on the 50th anniversary edition of Richard Dawkins's The Selfish Gene. The "I" in "SELFISH" is replaced by a DNA double helix, but it is drawn left-handed, which is incorrect. Geneticist Simon Fisher pointed out this faux pas on Bluesky, stating that a gene is considered selfish when its DNA twists in the right direction.
This misrepresentation has been present in at least a decade's worth of cover editions. Feedback also covers a bizarre case report from Cureus about a patient whose massive faecaloma (a large lump of impacted feces) was dissolved using Coca-Cola enemas. The authors attribute the success to Coca-Cola's mucolytic and effervescent properties.
Other stories include Facebook's truncation of an obsolete aircraft design, tech-induced rudeness due to common email names, and the colloquial abbreviation of Trinity Hall as "Tit".
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